Top Items:
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
RNC member calls on Steele to quit — Michael Steele should resign as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, according to a committee member from North Carolina. — In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina's national committeewoman …
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, DownWithTyranny!, Riehl World View and Ben Smith's Blogs
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Timothy Egan:
Fears of a Clown — Once upon a time, you could drive to the most remote reaches of the United States and escape Rush Limbaugh. But from the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico to the Badlands of South Dakota, where only the delicious twang of a country tune or the high-pitched pleadings …
Ben Smith / The Politico:
For GOP: all pain, no gain — Four months after John McCain's sweeping defeat, senior Republicans are coming to grips with the fact that the party is still - in stock market terms - looking for the bottom. — Republicans this week are processing two sobering new polls that found …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Washington Post, Political Machine, Booman Tribune and Capital Journal
Michelle Malkin:
New Rush Derangement Syndrome project: A DNC-funded billboard
New Rush Derangement Syndrome project: A DNC-funded billboard
Discussion:
MSNBC, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Radio Patriot, GayPatriot, Redistributing Knowledge and Right Wing News
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE BANALITY OF PROGRESS. — The speech ended. “Let's get to work,” the President said. The attendees — a mixture of congressmen, advocates, stakeholders, and analysts — filed down the long hall to their breakout sessions. Another reporter turned to me. “What did you think of the speech?”
Discussion:
The Plum Line
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself — WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton has not participated in any of the White House's planning sessions on health care, the issue that defined her public persona during the 1990s. Intent on establishing herself as a powerful secretary of state …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Top of the Ticket, Associated Press, TaylorMarsh.com, CBS News, Roger Ailes and Wonkette
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Rep. Wamp: Healthcare Is A ‘Privilege,’ Not A ‘Right’ For All Americans
Rep. Wamp: Healthcare Is A ‘Privilege,’ Not A ‘Right’ For All Americans
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Presidential Bait-and-Switch — What Obama once promised, and what he's delivering.
Presidential Bait-and-Switch — What Obama once promised, and what he's delivering.
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
IS HEALTH CARE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ FOR SOME?
IS HEALTH CARE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ FOR SOME?
Discussion:
PoliticalBase.com Blog
Jim Cramer / Mainstreet.com:
My Response To The White House — When I come to work each day, whether as a commentator for TheStreet.com or a host of Mad Money With Jim Cramer, I have only one thought in mind: helping people with their money. — I fight to help viewers and readers make and preserve capital.
Discussion:
Wizbang, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Say Anything, PoliGazette, Clusterstock, YID With LID and Capital Commerce
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John Boehner / Washington Post:
Democrats' Diversionary Tactics — In the first two months of 2009, the Democratic Congress and the White House have spent more money than the combined cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the response to Hurricane Katrina. After they doled out taxpayer dollars at such a blistering pace …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Politico, Commentary, CQ Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, TaylorMarsh.com, Gateway Pundit, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Washington Monthly, Burnt Orange Report, The Hill, The Washington Independent, Swampland, The Caucus, The Note, PoliticalBase.com Blog, Salon and DISSENTING JUSTICE
Tahman Bradley / Political Punch:
Obama Hosts Bipartisan ‘Timeout’ Dinner at White House
Obama Hosts Bipartisan ‘Timeout’ Dinner at White House
Discussion:
White House Watch
Michael Gove / Times of London:
First Lady Michelle Obama shows even she has a gift for the gaffe — It was all going so well. The dresses, the brains, the Vogue cover shoot - everything so far about Michelle Obama has left us wide-mouthed in admiration. It seemed there was no end to her fabulousness. Then Mr and Mrs Brown came to stay.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Real Revo, Stop The ACLU, The Daily Dish, Don Surber, Wake up America and Top of the Ticket
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Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter — President Barack Obama doesn't go anywhere without his TelePrompter. — The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president's prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks. — Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches …
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Tom Jacobs / Miller-McCune:
Sex Appeal May Have Hurt Sarah Palin — In a Sept. 4, 2008 column, just after Sarah Palin accepted the Republican nomination for vice-president, Will Wilkinson wrote admiringly of her “sexual power,” adding: “I think she is a tremendously sexy woman. How this will affect the race, I have no idea, but it's just got to.”
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, Top of the Ticket, Balloon Juice, Political Machine and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Schumer Privately Tells White House He's Concerned About Freeman On Israel — Senator Charles Schumer has privately expressed concerns directly to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel about Chas Freeman, the Obama administration's pick to head the group that prepares some of the intel community's …
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
An IG for Chas Freeman
An IG for Chas Freeman
Discussion:
Power Line, Washington Times, War in Context, The Washington Independent, Weekly Standard, Commentary, Hot Air and The Daily Dish
Yves Smith / naked capitalism:
The Treasury Mortgage Mod Program: Should We Hope It Doesn't Work? — The Treasury today announced its so-called “Making Homes Affordable Program”. — I am clearly an old fart. The fact that the Treasury bothered to have a logo created for the program (do consumers and servicers …
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John Leland / New York Times:
Unlucky or Unwise, Some Homeowners Left Out
Unlucky or Unwise, Some Homeowners Left Out
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Independent, JustOneMinute and Washington Post
Megan McArdle:
GM is toast — After today's annual report, I don't think there's any question of GM's staying out of bankruptcy. The company's revenue fell from $180 billion in 2007 to $149 billion in 2008, with the worst crash in the fourth quarter. Car sales have continued to plunge into the new year.
Bill Sammon / Fox News:
EXCLUSIVE: Rove Warns of ‘Show Trial,’ Says Dems ‘Would Love to Have Me Barbecued’ — Karl Rove tells FOX News he is looking forward to telling the House Judiciary Committee about his alleged role in the firing of federal prosecutors and the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Monthly, Glenn Thrush's Blogs, Associated Press, TIME.com, TPMMuckraker and Salon
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Jon Stewart's rant: Santelli re(un)wound — Apparently Rick Santelli - famous for “Santelli's rant” on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a broadcast diatribe against the Obama administration's bailout of bad mortgages - should have shown up on The Daily Show.
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com
Roger Cohen / New York Times:
One France Is Enough — The French writer François Mauriac once said during the cold war that he loved Germany so much, he was glad there were two of them. After what an undivided Germany had done to France in World War II and before, that was understandable.
Mike Madden / Salon:
Why is John McCain being such a jerk? — The post-election lovefest is over. The defeated senator has even learned Twitter to attack Obama. But don't call him jealous. — Sen. John McCain smiles during a news conference in December. — WASHINGTON — A couple of weeks …